RT Journal Article
T1 Long-Term Measurement of Piglet Activity Using Passive Infrared Detectors
A1 Besteiro, Roberto
A1 Arango López, Tamara
A1 Ortega Martínez, Juan Antonio
A1 Fernández Rodríguez, María Dolores
A1 Rodríguez Rodríguez, Manuel Ramiro
K1 Animal activity
K1 Passive infrared detector
K1 Piglets
K1 Wavelet analysis
K1 Daily pattern
AB Measuring animal activity is useful for monitoring animal welfare in real time. In this regard, passive infrared detectors have been used in recent years to quantify piglet activity because of their robustness and ease of use. This study was conducted on a commercial farm in Northwest Spain during six complete breeding cycles. The hourly average activity of weaned piglets with a body mass of 6–20 kg was recorded and further analyzed by using a multiplicative decomposition of the series followed by a wavelet analysis. Finally, the real series were compared to the theoretical models of activity. Results showed a high level of movement immediately after weaning and a sustained level of activity throughout the cycles. The daily behavior of the piglets followed a clear circadian pattern with several peaks of activity. No differences in behavior were observed between spring–summer cycles and autumn–winter cycles. Single-peak models achieved the best predictive results. In addition, the installed sensors were found to underestimate mild activity
PB MDPI
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/26758
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/26758
LA eng
NO Animals 2021, 11(6), 1607; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061607
NO This research was funded by Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria da Xunta de Galicia, grant number ED431B 2018/12-GPC
DS Minerva
RD 23 abr 2026